[21] During the days of the Chinese over-lordship of the island there were several British consulates in Formosa; one in Takao, the southern port of the island, and one in Anping, the harbour on the west coast, as well as the one in Keelung. Since Formosa has been a part of the Japanese Empire, however, British trade with the island has steadily declined. No encouragement--in fact, every discouragement--is given it by the present masters of the island; hence there are no longer consulates at either Takao or Anping, and the great houses formerly occupied by the consuls, which were centres of both social and business activity in the British colonies at Takao and Anping, respectively, are now falling into decay, occupied only by bats, snakes, and homeless Chinese-Formosan beggars. [22] The records speak only of male chieftains being invited to these feasts. It is possible that those tribal groups which have now--and probably had then--women chiefs sent male proxies to the feasts of the Dutch governors, as the latter would treat only with men. [23] See footnote, p. 33. [24] Curiously enough, this pack of starving dogs constituted my first impression of life in Formosa, teeming though the island is with richness of vegetable and animal life, and with all that makes for easy and comfortable living for both man and beast. At first the starvation and evident misery of these dogs puzzled me. I did not then fully understand--as later I was forced to do--the callousness and indifference of the great majority of both Chinese and Japanese to the sufferings of animals. [25] All the Japanese in Formosa in Civil Service, including the teachers, wear military uniform and carry swords. [26] All “writing” in Chinese characters is really painting, being done with a soft brush dipped in Indian ink. [27] During my residence in Formosa, my Chinese-Formosan house-boy came to me, begging that _Asa_--the “sun,” or “shining lord”--in this case “female lord” (lady does not quite express the significance) of the household--would lend him 70 yen, with which to buy a “lily-footed” bride. His father had said it was time for him to marry, and with 40 yen--the amount of his savings--he could buy only a “big-footed” wife, something which would make him the laughing-stock of all his acquaintance. [28] In Japan the police are drawn from the educated upper-class--the old _Samurai_. [29] The Japanese when at home always sit, or rather kneel, on _Zabuton_ (kneeling-cushions, or mats) on the floor. CHAPTER III PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THE ABORIGINES A New Year Visit to the East Coast Tribes--Received by the Taiyal as a Reincarnation of one of the seventeenth-century Dutch “Fathers.” In spite of the objections of the Director, and the suspicions of the police and of the hydra-headed ‘they,’ I did not, while in Formosa, confine either my interests or my exercise to ricksha-riding[30] or to “tennis-ball.”